Tornadoes tear through northern Oklahoma

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Supercell storms plowed across northern Oklahoma state Saturday spawning several tornadoes that crushed structures and sent debris flying miles away, US media reported.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the storms would drop “a few tornadoes near an outflow boundary where wind shear is very favorable for rotation. Other scattered severe storms are possible farther southward through Oklahoma this afternoon and evening.”

Local television KWTV filmed the large tornadoes, near the towns of Hennessey and Bison, around 2000 GMT, perched close to the system in a helicopter as tornado funnel clouds — black shadows against a grey-sky backdrop — churned up ground below, sending rocks, splinters of wood and other debris skyward.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities.

A NWS spokesman in Norman, Oklahoma told AFP the “well-developed” tornadoes hit Kingfisher and Garfield counties.

Tornadoes strike in Oklahoma

HENNESSEY, Okla. (AP) — Emergency officials are assessing damage after a slow-moving storm system dropped several tornadoes today in northwestern Oklahoma.

A tornado warning remains in effect in Garfield County at the center of a tornado watch area in north-central Oklahoma.

Television footage showed a twister causing damage to barns in a rural area of Kingfisher County, and several tornadoes touching down in the area near Hennessey and Bison.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Department says officials are still working in the areas affected by the tornadoes and it’s too early to report any damage or injuries.

Fifteen counties are included in the tornado watch area that stretches from the Kansas border to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

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